Mental health in farmers in collaboration with Yellow Wellies

Hello everyone and welcome to another blog post. This weeks post may cause upset to some people but has no intentions to, I wanted to make this post to spread the word and ways to help the young and old, guys and girls that struggle with mental health within the agricultural industry. 

Recently a lot of people have been speaking out about mental health and struggling with depression, feeling lonely or worse suicidal thoughts. Within the agricultural industry 1 in 4 people are diagnosed with a mental illness in farming and its even more heartbreaking to say approximately, more than one farmer a week in the UK dies through suicide. Depression is on the rise in the industry and suicide is the highest in any occupation and is caused through many different reasons, stress being the biggest contributing factor along with;

• Financial issues: borrowings and poor return on capital

• Increased regulation

• Irregular weather patterns

• Animal diseases

• Marketing produce

• Family expectations and succession planning

• Workplace isolation

• Lack of respite from work

(from YANA website)

The reason I really wanted to make this post is because a good friend of mine went through being depressed and feeling suicidal for 3 years and never spoke about how he felt to anyone and I wished I could have helped more. The thought of someone else having to face such a big thing on their own makes me feel awful, so making this post even if it just helps one person speak out and reach for help would mean the world. This good friend is called Dan Goodwin and he has already been brave enough to speak to Farmers Weekly but has agreed to share his story with us on this post. Dan and myself have been friends for around 3 years and not once did I ever think he was dealing with such a big feeling on his own. In his story he very kindly shared how it really feels to be a farmer and struggling with depression. 

Dan's Story

"I’m Dan Goodwin (22) I’m from Bury St Edmunds. I have always been working on farms since I was 16, from that age I went to Easton and Otley College over four years. Over them four years I did the top diploma in agriculture and to top them years off I won “Suffolk agriculture apprentice of the year 2018”. 

I started feeling like this around 3 years ago when I had a very close call in hospital this was all due to stress and pressure, from there it all went down hill as I always on my own every day all the time. From there all the suicidal thoughts started to kick off. It made me feel less and unwanted, but as this was something I've always wanted to do I just kept it quiet to myself and just kept going on with it. It got way too much for me and I decided that I needed help or I might of not be here right now."

Dan was very brave and spoke out over social media about his depression and feelings ,so I asked were you concerned about making it public? How you thought people may react? And how they did react? "No I was not concerned at all, after coming out that I needed help I want to share it with everyone as at last I was not afraid about taking about it. I was worried on how people would take it especially my family and my girlfriend but everyone took it very well and has been so supportive in everything and I can’t thank my girlfriend enough."                        ' From someone who has been through everything and come out the other side ,lastly is there any advice you would like to give to others? "After it went on farmers weekly I've had loads of young/older farmers come to me asking how did I do and how to get help, the main thing I've said to them is never keep it in you! You should not be afraid about it everyone around you will be so proud of you."

Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) As well as Dan, Farm Safety Foundation (Yellow Wellies) have agreed to work alongside me for this post providing you with some advice and what to do if you are feeling depressed or down.  A little bit about Yellow Wellies - The Foundation works closely with Young Farmers Clubs, HSE, the Farm Safety Partnerships and a range of farming organisations to help raise awareness of farm safety among young farmers, challenge and change their attitudes towards farming safely and reduce the toll of injuries and fatalities which bring heartbreak and misery to numerous families and rural communities every year. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological and social wellbeing. It affects how we think, feel, and act. Mental health issues are a normal part of life and can vary from day to day. Talk about mental health comes with two big obstacles ,stigma and discrimination and also the thought of making other feel uncomfortable. Yellow Wellies have provided a link to their website which explains what mental health is and their campaign 'mind your head' which is also explained more in the second link; https://www.yellowwellies.org/the-little-book-of-minding-your-head-download-your-copy-here/ https://www.yellowwellies.org/why-this-matters-and-why-you-should-care-please-watch/ They also provide a booklet which can be found on this page Please just take 5 seconds to watch this important video and please if you know anyone that may be suffering help them out. (Its a very hard hitting video please bear in mind before watching) https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1779851365410722 Dan's social platforms; Instagram - @dan_goodwin97 Facebook - Dan Goodwin  Farm Safety Foundation ;  https://www.yellowwellies.org/farm-safety-foundation/ Instagram - @yellowwelliesuk Facebook - Farm Safety Foundation - Yellow Wellies

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